Hispano Music and Culture of the Northern Rio Grande: The Juan B.
Rael Collection

Copyright and Other Restrictions

The Library of Congress is not aware of any U.S. copyright protection
(see Title 17, U.S.C.) or any other restrictions on the material in The
Juan B. Rael Collection, except as noted below. Users should keep in
mind that the Library of Congress is providing access to these materials
strictly for educational and research purposes. The written permission
of the copyright owners and/or other rights holders (such as publicity
and/or privacy rights) is required for distribution, reproduction, or
other use of protected items beyond that allowed by fair use or other
statutory exemptions. Researchers or others who would like to make
further use of these copy photographs or interviews should contact the
American Folklife Center for assistance.

The special character of collections that result from ethnographic field
research is outlined in
What is an Ethnographic
Field Collection?
The American Folklife Center and the professional fieldworkers who carry
out these projects feel a strong ethical responsibility to the people they
have visited and who have consented to have their lives documented for the
historical record. The Center asks that researchers approach the materials
in this collection with respect for the culture and sensibilities of the
people whose lives, ideas, and creativity are documented here. Researchers
are also reminded that privacy and publicity rights may pertain to certain
uses of this material.

As is often the case with materials collected in the course of
ethnographic field research, however, it is difficult or impossible to
sufficiently identify specific songs sung by participants which
precludes performing a comprehensive assessment of the copyright status
of underlying musical rights in lyrics or compositions. The
identification of specific speakers or singers included in sound
recordings is also often difficult or sometimes impossible. It is our
understanding that the folk music that Juan B. Rael collected in the
summer of 1940 is within the public domain. Some of the alabado
hymns in this collection are centuries old. The instrumental music dates
to the mid-nineteenth century and some melodies are probably older. A few
of the songs are twentieth century compositions but were created in
traditional genres by anonymous authors and are part of the oral
tradition as is the entire Collection.

The staff of the American Folklife Center is eager to learn more about
the musical compositions included in the Collection and encourages the
public to contact them with any information at: